Zappi charge points

garo

Thanks. So that cuts out a dedicated EV charger completely? You only pay for the socket, the RCBO and the install? Makes sense.

I have a 4.8kW E/W system. I am often exporting over 1.4kW. Yesterday exported 5kWh - most of it at 2kWp. I don't have an Eddi and the car will be at home almost every day - even when WFH ends.

Still trying to decide between the used or the new. v2 comes with extra DC RCD and some earthing protection and I get a 3 year warranty. With the second hand one there's always a risk it doesn't work!

Gumbo

garo wrote: »

Thanks. So that cuts out a dedicated EV charger completely? You only pay for the socket, the RCBO and the install? Makes sense.

I have a 4.8kW E/W system. I am often exporting over 1.4kW. Yesterday exported 5kWh - most of it at 2kWp. I don't have an Eddi and the car will be at home almost every day - even when WFH ends.

Still trying to decide between the used or the new. v2 comes with extra DC RCD and some earthing protection and I get a 3 year warranty. With the second hand one there's always a risk it doesn't work!

Essentially yes. But once that’s in, you can add a charger at any time in the future. It removes your initial outlay but you loose the smart charging that the zappi offers by soaking up the excess.

But you need a minimum amount to go to the car before it soaks it up I believe.

I have a 3kw south facing system and very often export too.

I would consider the second hand unit to keep initial outlay down but that one is very expensive for second hand in my opinion but maybe it’s where the market is.

eddhorse

Hi Guys,

Got a Zappi V2 charger installed last year, that worked fine and I got the hub and app to view the various Grid and Charger consumption.
I got a fuseboard upgrade last week, i was out for the day and the electrician installed a priority switch as I have an electric shower.
I told him I didnt need this as the Zappi handles the max load. Am i wrong in saying that?

And now i have no grid input on the app, he tried to switch the direction of the CT clamp (with the arrow) but still nothing.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Ed

KCross

eddhorse wrote: »

Got a Zappi V2 charger installed last year, that worked fine and I got the hub and app to view the various Grid and Charger consumption.
I got a fuseboard upgrade last week, i was out for the day and the electrician installed a priority switch as I have an electric shower.
I told him I didnt need this as the Zappi handles the max load. Am i wrong in saying that?

You are correct. No need for priority switch unless you have some other high power devices connected to the same priority switch

So, when you turn on the shower it cuts the power to the Zappi? If yes, tell him thats not required and hand him the Zappi manual.

He's not going to be happy because he plans to charge you for that priority switch and his work so its money down the drain for him but you need to insist as it removes a primary reason for having the Zappi and it will also reset some Zappi settings each time its powered off/on.... insist he removes the priority switch unless he can come up with a good explanation.

eddhorse wrote: »

And now i have no grid input on the app, he tried to switch the direction of the CT clamp (with the arrow) but still nothing.

Have you communication between the hub and the Zappi? Green lights etc?

eddhorse

KCross wrote: »

You are correct. No need for priority switch unless you have some other high power devices connected to the same priority switch
So, when you turn on the shower it cuts the power to the Zappi? If yes, tell him thats not required and hand him the Zappi manual.

Thanks for the quick answer, yes it cuts the power to the Zappi.

KCross wrote: »

He's not going to be happy because he plans to charge you for that priority switch and his work so its money down the drain for him but you need to insist as it removes a primary reason for having the Zappi and it will also reset some Zappi settings each time its powered off/on.... insist he removes the priority switch unless he can come up with a good explanation.

Have you communication between the hub and the Zappi? Green lights etc?

Actually yes i havent check to see will it restart a charging car.

I do have connecting between hub and zappi, i can see it charging on the app but nothing coming in from the grid.

eddhorse

FYI from the Zappi Manual :

Supply Grid – Grid Limit
Sets the limit that can be drawn from the grid connection (i.e. the maximum import current or the main fuse rating).
Example: A property may have a grid supply limit of only 65A, several appliances are on, the property is consuming
12kW (52A) to supply these appliances and the user wants to charge in FAST mode. Without the Grid Limit set, the
total consumption would exceed the allowed import current and trip the supply or blow a fuse. However, with a Grid
Limit setting of 60A, zappi would temporarily limit the charging current to 8A (about 1.8kW) and the maximum
allowed import current would not be exceeded.

garo

Got another quote for 1200 v2 installed so probably going to go for it.

championc

eddhorse wrote: »

And now i have no grid input on the app, he tried to switch the direction of the CT clamp (with the arrow) but still nothing.

Any ideas?

It could be that your Zappi has lost the configuration. Check the CT Config menu for one of your CT points to be configured as Grid

If lost, ever more reason to get rid of the unnecessary priority switch

eddhorse

championc wrote: »

It could be that your Zappi has lost the configuration. Check the CT Config menu for one of your CT points to be configured as Grid

If lost, ever more reason to get rid of the unnecessary priority switch

Super thanks will check that

KCross

I see the MyEnergi app has been updated.

New design in the graphs, monthly reports working properly now and a few other improvements.

Looks good so far!

NBar

garo wrote: »

Got another quote for 1200 v2 installed so probably going to go for it.

Can you tell me with whom that is or pm me if you wish... Thanks

Came out to this error this morning,
Had enough % for the day anyway but would have been nice to know the zappi was in fault status.
can the hub alert you to faut status ?

KCross

The more important question is why your voltage went to 201V!

Do you have electric showers, heat pumps etc that would have been on at the same time as the car was pulling 32A?
Are you in a rural area?

If that becomes a common occurrence you need to talk to ESB and get them to look at that.

First time its happened and yes rural.
Funnily I did notice the lights dim last night when turning on the shower which never happens.

KCross

BrownFinger wrote: »

Funnily I did notice the lights dim last night when turning on the shower which never happens.

Was the car charging at the same time as you turned on the shower?

Being rural you are probably also sharing a transformer with a bunch of other houses and/or possibly a nearby farm which could be leaving you with low voltage.

If it happens again I'd get an inexpensive energy monitor like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Maxcio-Consumption-Monitoring-Overload-Analyzer/dp/B085M6GL2R/ref=asc_df_B085M6GL2R

If you see that the voltage is consistently low (200-215) you need to talk to ESB who will put in a proper monitor at your meter and if they see consistent low voltage they will do some upgrade works.

You should be getting a consistent 225-235V even with the car charging. If your neighbours are also heavy users it might be pulling it down.

201V is awfully low, but might be just a blip too.

Car was not charging ,
I believe it to be a blip .
You could easily get scuppered if you needed a full SOC.
Other chargers will tell you there is a problem via their app (Wallbox I believe)

JohnC.

Is it safe to temporarily use a Zappi without a CT clamp? Without using anything else high-powered, obviously.

I've got a Harvi in my setup but the Harvi seems to have stopped working. No life in the status light.

the_amazing_raisin

JohnC. wrote: »

Is it safe to temporarily use a Zappi without a CT clamp? Without using anything else high-powered, obviously.

I've got a Harvi in my setup but the Harvi seems to have stopped working. No life in the status light.

I think you can configure the Zappi to internally limit it's charge current. Maybe set it down to 16A until you get a new Harvi

championc

JohnC. wrote: »

Is it safe to temporarily use a Zappi without a CT clamp? Without using anything else high-powered, obviously.

I've got a Harvi in my setup but the Harvi seems to have stopped working. No life in the status light.

Just use it in Normal mode rather than ECO.

You could check your Harvi by trying to power it from an external power source. I'm sure I read a posting on their forum where it was confirmed that a 9v source will do it. So even a 9v PP3

loopymum

Think I need to get a zappi as I have a heat pump, do I need the myenergie hub?

Nedved85

You don't 'need' the hub but it is a nice feature to have as you can see what your house/car is using.

If you buy a hub - you *might* need a harvi aswell - This reads the feed in from the ESB and in turns tells the hub what your house is using.

garo

No you don't need a Harvi if your CT clamp is wired all the way back to the Eddi or Zappi. The Harvi is for when you cannot or do not want a wired connection from your CT clamp to a myenergi device.

the_amazing_raisin

loopymum wrote: »

Think I need to get a zappi as I have a heat pump, do I need the myenergie hub?

No, you only need the hub in the UK as they require chargers to be connected to the internet to get the OLEV grant

You might need a harvi to monitor your ESB connection if wiring the CT clamp that comes with the Zappi back to your meter is too difficult.

I've order a hub and harvi anyway as I like to monitor my usage and I'd like the option of moving the Zappi to a different location with too much rewiring

KCross

https://myenergi.info/hub-firmware-release-3-041-26-11-2020-t2737.html

New firmware now available for the hub (3.041) and both the old and new Zappi's.

Good to see they are not abandoning the old Zappi hardware.

Some of the fixes were already available for the v2 Zappi are now available for v1 Zappi, which is to fix an issue with eGolf and Model 3 charging along with a whole load of other fixes detailed here
https://myenergi.info/zappi-v1-firmware-release-3-101-27-11-2020-t2741.html


For those with SolarPV and batteries they also appear to have addressed some issues there but I dont have a battery myself so dont know what it actually fixes

Improved interaction with DC battery
Improved handling of AC batteries and power diverters

This one used annoy me so glad they addressed that one

It is now possible to define what mode the zappi boots into after a power cut / reboot

slave1

Careful with Hub update, my Eddi reverted to Australia mode when I updated the hub, took Myenergi forever to sort it over the phone after countless factory resets despite the issue being the funny channel the Eddi was on

KCross

slave1 wrote: »

Careful with Hub update, my Eddi reverted to Australia mode when I updated the hub, took Myenergi forever to sort it over the phone after countless factory resets despite the issue being the funny channel the Eddi was on

All worked ok for me anyway including the Zappi (no Eddi in my setup though). Let’s hope the car charges tomorrow!

zg3409

slave1 wrote: »

Careful with Hub update, my Eddi reverted to Australia mode when I updated the hub, took Myenergi forever to sort it over the phone after countless factory resets despite the issue being the funny channel the Eddi was on

My grid limit switched off on a previous update (there probably was a warning in small print) but in my case the limit was there to protect an old fuseboard from overload, so theoretically it could have overheated something. If you have an instant shower or heat pump or grid limit set up make a note of it and check its still active after any updates. I would also warn those who do not need an update, if its not broken....don't fix it

the_amazing_raisin

Anyone know if it's possible to swap a tethered type 1 plug for a type 2? I'm guessing it's not easy since they're pretty weatherproof plugs

championc

cruisey1987 wrote: »

Anyone know if it's possible to swap a tethered type 1 plug for a type 2? I'm guessing it's not easy since they're pretty weatherproof plugs

your best hope (and safest option) would be to replace the whole cable and the Type 2 head all the way back to the charger unit

stimpson

I’m pretty sure you can order them from Zappi.

Failing that they can be got here: https://evcables.co.uk/index.php/for-type-2-cars/tethered-cables.html